Netflix was looking like they were going to be the winners when it came to the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, but the Larry Ellison led Paramount group has since made a larger offer that WBD has said is a “superior proposal”. This means that Netflix is staying the same and Paramount is about to become a super company, taking in all of the assets of WBD. Netflix announced this in a notice to their investors here.
This comes after it was looking like Netflix buying the company was a certainty. In any case, the worst possible choice for consumers out there would be for Warner Bros. to sell to anyone. Giant corporations merging together like this mean that our media and our art are owned by one company. That leads to a loss of competition, and of course, competition breeds innovation. Here’s what Netflix had to say in their statement.
Netflix’s Statement
The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.
Warner Bros. is a world-class organization, and we want to thank David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell, Brad Singer and the WBD Board for running a fair and rigorous process. We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.
Netflix’s business is healthy, strong and growing organically, powered by our slate and best-in-class streaming service. This year, we’ll invest approximately $20 billion in quality films and series and will expand our entertainment offering. Consistent with our capital allocation policy, we’ll also resume our share repurchase program.
We will continue to do what we’ve done for more than 20 years as a public company: delight our members, profitably grow our business, and drive long-term shareholder value.
This means that Paramount will continue with their love of theatrical windows past the seemingly pitiful windows we get from Netflix, but that comes at a cost of the likely loss of jobs when both companies merge.
We’ll keep you updated on all things as they develop.
For more on Movies, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.
Source: Netflix
That Hashtag Show
